Dragon Wars
by 0The Funny Number0
Summary: The brave Viking people of Berk have been fighting the northern dragons for centuries, protecting the rest of the empire from these demonic creatures. What will happen when the emperor Pitch Black finds out that one small Viking has managed to tame one of the dragons. Will he join the Nightmare Riders or rebel against the ruthless tyrant? AU, Hiccup x Jack Frost


Dragon Wars

Chapter 1

**So this is my first fan fiction ever. I have been reading a lot of Hiccup x Jack frost lately so I thought I would give it a try. The idea of this fic comes from various sources. I got a bit inspired on the ergaon books with some ideas that will appear later on on this story.**

**A suggestion when you are reading this fic, when reading about the 'empire' think of it more of a roman style empire instead of a feudal system like Game of Thrones. By this I mean that it is not one family or house that rules over the province, but that person is elected by the senate, or in the case of this fic by the people of the province, it is still an noble-run society just keep in mind.**

**So yea tell me what you think about the first chapter. Keep in mind that English is not my first language, so if you see an annoying grammatical error that I keep doing, _please_ tell me so I can avoid it in the future!**

Falling, the air on his face, the exhilarating sensation when you are plunging directly to the ground, the scream of terror as said ground approaches. For a second he felt at peace, Hiccup could see the clouds beneath him and could admire the view of Berk from above; he never had thought he would see it from so afar, it was so beautiful.

He did not get enough time to contemplate and admire the view, as an enormous cloud came out of thin air. The cloud was an endless white that stretched as far as the eye could see; a white purer than the color of fresh fallen snow. The cloud seemed harmless and friendly, for a second he thought that he would bounce off as soon as he reached collided with it. However that moment never came.

As he looked at the rising sun he saw a shadow that consumed all the light around it. The shadow seemed to get closer and closer by the second, when it suddenly occurred to Hiccup that if it didn't slow down it would hit him directly. Before the shadow collided against the falling boy, Hiccup could see a flash of green emanating from the flying shadow. Right as they both crashed against each other he heard a loud _BOOM-_ and his name being called from the distance.

_BING…BING…BING…_

Just at that moment Hiccup jumped from his bead as he started hearing the notorious warning bells that accompanied a dragon attack. Perfect, he thought, the third dragon attack this week. It was not that he was scared of the raids, one had to get used to it growing around them; it was more the feeling of uselessness that he felt during such attacks, especially in the middle of the night when he was groggy from the small amount of sleep he got and could not think straight.

As Hiccup got out of bed he headed towards the window in his room that overlooked the main plaza of Berk. Staring out his window, the boy could see the reason for the large noise that woke him up. It seemed that the main plaza was on fire due to some dragon trying to save their own lives. Being still sleepy from the little sleep, he just stared out the window without really processing what was happening, or what he needed to do.

Hiccup snapped out of his daze as soon as the bells started ringing again. Gods, how he hated that noise, it was no surprise to him that the dragons got disoriented by the dreadful sound that they made. He should congratulate Gobber for creating the most annoying sound any creature has ever heard.

Realizing that he was needed, the brown haired boy ran down the stairs and out the door of his home. But just as he closed the door of his home, he stopped right on his tracks when he saw a brown scaled dragon blocking his way. He needed to get to Gobber's iron works immediately, or else Gobber would lecture him on the importance of doing your job right.

However the quickest way to get to Gobber's ironworks was blocked by 2 meter ugly, brown, fat dragon that had wings too short for it to fly efficiently. Luckily for Hiccup the dragon was too busy eating from the barrel of fish that he must have stolen from the docks. Trying not to draw attention, the boy, slowly tiptoed away from the dragon, trying to escape unnoticed.

However luck was not for Hiccup today. As soon as he was about to flee his sight, the brown scaled beast looked up and saw the small boy. Remembering what Gobber always told him about this type of dragon, Gronckle he thought it was called, Hiccup did not move with the hope that it would not see him. But as another explosion when in the background, the boy jumped and almost fell to the floor. To regain equilibrium he had to take a few step backwards, but the dragon had already spotted him.

Hiccup only having a small dagger in the back of his belt, decided that it would be best to just run away as fast as he could and try losing the beast through the narrow streets of Berk. As he set off and ran, the Gronckle followed and awkwardly charged towards Hiccup, with the hope of getting another tasty snack.

As he ran away from the hungry dragon, Hiccup saw a flash of blond hair on the roof of a building a bit further into one of the narrow streets. As soon as he saw it he smiled and ran directly towards it. Once he got near it, he could see that it was his friend Astrid, giving him a look that screamed, 'Keep going you moron, I will have to save your ass once again'. As he continued running with a smile on his face, he turned around and saw that the dragon had not seen his friend, and was about to run straight into an ambush.

As soon as the Gronckle was below Astrid, the blond girl jumped off with a spear in her hand, and drove it into the Gronckle, ending his days of looting Berk. As soon as she dismounted the dead dragon she turned to Hiccup and punched him in the arm.

"You moron, you could have gotten yourself killed, or worse, gotten me killed!" She said trying to contain a smile at the pleading look Hiccup gave her, as he rubbed the area she just had punched.

"If I didn't know any better I would have thought that you were worried for me there." Hiccup said sarcastically, receiving another, yet lighter punch in his arm "Hey stop that, I need my arm to function correctly. Berk might fall apart if _one_ of us cannot do our job properly"

They both laughed at the comment, since they both had heard the same lecture multiple times.

"You should get to Gobber's before he sends a rescue party for the mighty son of our chief." Astrid said between chuckles.

"Ha, ha… very funny Astrid" snorted Hiccup, laughing sarcastically at her friend's comment.

"No but really, you need to get going or you will have to hear him again about how important it is that you do your job"

"Yea, yea, I know. I am _indispensable_ to our cause. Well thanks for saving my life and…"

"_Again_" interrupted Astrid, leaning against the spear that had killed the Gronckle.

"Yes, _again…_ I get it!" The freckled boy turned around and ran towards the iron works, hoping he is not too late.

* * *

><p>Right as he entered the iron works, he saw a huge pile of weapons in the <em>due<em> section of the armory. That usually meant that it was his job to take every weapon and make sure that it was sharpened, polished, and any imperfections removed, before it was given back to the owner. There were different times of weapons, from daggers, to big broadswords, to war hammers, and other types of bizarre weaponry that he did not know how to name.

As he saw the pile he groaned and placed his hands on top of his head, clearly unamused to the worked that waited for him. As soon as he begun to work, Gobber came in with another pile to add to the _due_ pile that was already big as it was, making the boy groan even louder. As soon has he set eyes on the boy, he pointed to the boy with the hammer that was replacing his right hand.

"Hiccup; in the name of all that is mighty, were do you think you were? You don't get to disappear like that and leave me to do all the work! You know that Berk needs all of us to pull it together."

Hiccup knew better than to respond with a witty remark, so he proceeded to nod and mutter curses as he continued sharpening the weapons, making sure that all the _brave_ warriors of Berk had their weapon ready to kill the next dragon that showed their face near the island.

* * *

><p>The night went on uneventfully, well nothing out of the ordinary for it to be Berk. Dragons appeared and tried to set fire to the town, before being shot down from the sky and slayed, yep a normal night for Berk.<p>

Hiccup spent all the time sharpening tools as fast as he could so he would be able to leave as soon as the last dragon was either killed or fled.

As soon as he was dismissed he went home to find a very empty house, which frankly, according to Hiccup, needed much more lighting. He sped to his room and jumped into his bed, to at least get some shuteye before he was awaken by his father with some silly chore that was only to keep Hiccup busy.

However that rest did not last long, as Stoick entered the house with a large swing of the front door.

"HICCUUUP, I am home! I need you to wake up immediately, I don't – I mean, Berk cannot afford for you to stay asleep as others are working." He said with a commanding tone.

The only response that came from the half asleep boy was a grunt and a mumble, acknowledging that he indeed heard his father say something, but he was not ready to move from his bed.

"Hiccup you better get you of bed right now!" Stoick increased both the volume and force of his command.

Hearing the commanding voice of his father, the freckled teen lazily dragged himself out of bed and down the stairs. Half way through the descent he stumbled and fell the rest of the way down. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, the seventeen year old stood up dusted the dirt out of his clothes.

Reaching out for an envelope that was sitting in the table next to him, Stoick said "Son, I need you go up north to the outpost there, and give this message to Bucket and Mulch."

Hiccup knew well of his job as messenger, not being strong as the rest of the Vikings on Berk, he could not help with any of the reconstruction or jobs that required any force or muscle. So when he was not in the ironworks sharpening dragon-killing spears, he was used to send messages between Berk and the outposts. He was actually pretty good at it, being small he did not weigh much, so he could go faster on horseback than any of the other Vikings.

"I cannot understand how this wave of dragons got so close of Berk" Muttered Stoick.

"Okay Dad… I'll do that then…" Responded Hiccup with a low voice, hoping to avoid any scolding for oversleeping.

"And don't get to distracted in the woods, dragon season might be close to over but you don't know what you could find, I don't need you getting hurt and lost in the middle of the forest" Continued Stoick, staring directly at Hiccup hoping his son would listen.

"Yea, yea chief, don't you worry about me, I will be fine. You act as if I cannot defend myself" Answered Hiccup with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, and chuckling slightly.

However Hiccup's comment was returned with a glare from Stoick, clearly not finding his son's comment amusing. The teen proceeded to walk awkwardly towards the door, as his father just stared at him, as if knowing that something was going to happen with Hiccup in his simple mission.

As he exited his home, Hiccup leaned against his front door and released a breath that he was not aware that he was holding. Talking to his father was never easy; rather it was always pretty awkward interaction. It wasn't that Stoick didn't love his son; it really was that they did not understanding each other. "Okay then, I must go now…" he muttered as he walked towards the stables.

* * *

><p>Berk was settled where a mountain meets the see sea, so as a result the streets of the town are usually sloped rather steeply. Luckily Hiccup's house was on the top part of the town, so almost everything was downslope from his home. The boy was now in one of these narrow downhill streets, heading for the stables, which were at the base of Berk, right next to the docks. The reason for that was so that when cargo arrived from the rest of the empire, the horses would be available nearby and carry it were it needed to go.<p>

As he went down the street towards the base of Berk, Hiccup saw a flash of darkness in the sky. He suddenly looked up and saw a shadow moving unnaturally quickly behind the clouds when it suddenly landed in the middle of the island. But just as he saw it, it was gone, making him think that he may had imagined it, or it was a simple optical illusion.

The stables, like many of the buildings in Berk, were a wooden structure covered in thick metal plating; this was to avoid the spread of dragon fire. As he approached he could smell the particular mixture that came with being near horses, combined with the salty smell of the docks. Choosing to breathe through his mouth, he entered and hoped on into the messenger horse. In case there was the need of an urgent message to be delivered, there was always a horse prepared near the entrance of the stables.

As soon as he was on his grey stallion, he drove fast out of the stables and up the hill. He rapidly strove though the narrow streets, and out of the town. He galloped fast through the gate of the city, and did not slow down until he was deep in the woods.

Following the trail he already knew too well, Hiccup finally relaxed and let his shoulders drop with a deep breath. He didn't mind being the messenger between the outposts and Berk, sure it was a bit humiliating that that was the only job he could do after sharpening tools and weapons, yet he kind of liked the peace and tranquility of marching through the forest alone, without anyone scolding at him for his weakness.

In moments like these, Hiccup could finally let his thoughts wander free, the horses always knew where they had to go; the trail was simple enough for even a stupid Gronckle to follow, so the boy did not need to pay much attention on where he was going.

Berk was in the south-western part of the Island of Fire, it was an ironic name since Hiccup was pretty sure that it was the coldest place in the whole empire, snowing 9months a year and hailing another 3. However the name of the island came from the fact that the dragons kept setting fire to the forests of the island. However everyone called it just Berk, or the island of Berk.

The journey from Berk to the northern outpost was almost a day long, so Hiccup was in no hurry since Gobber would not be expecting him until late today. How glad was Hiccup that dragon season was about to end. Only a few more weeks and the feast of summer would mark the end of any more dragon attacks for a good 6 months, sure more dragons would come back after summer, but hey everyone needs a break now and then.

The feast of summer was a very important celebration on the northern lands of the empire. Not only did it mark the end of the dragon raids, but also meant a season of calm seas, and warm weather. Every year in Berk they celebrated with a huge banquet, the entire island was invited to the banquet and celebrated the beginning of summer.

Even if the teen was not the most social Viking in Berk, he still had fun with the spectacles that occurred during the days of the fest, especially when he did not need to work anymore in the ironworks though the entire night, and get less than an hour of rest.

These and other thoughts occupied Hiccup while on his journey north of the island.

* * *

><p>The sun was at its highest when Hiccup arrived to the northern outpost. It was located at the top of a hill and on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the northern sea. The building was a circular stone structure, four stories high. The outer walls where covered in moss and one could hardly see the clean stone anymore. Long vines hanged from a wooden conical roof that covered the structure. If one didn't know where to look, they would have a hard time finding the outpost, it seemed to camouflage with the rest of the island. Every story had gothic windows, filled with iron bars, to prevent anything unwanted to get in the tower. At the very top there was a wooden hatch that would open when the guards wanted to send ravens to carry their messages to Berk.<p>

The raven system was risky since the dragons would sometime eat the messenger midflight. For that reason, Hiccup was sent himself to personally deliver the messages, to avoid any risk of losing the letters.

As the boy approached the tower, he dismounted from his horse and proceeded to tie the rains to one of a fence posts. Before he could even knock on the wooden door, the door flung open with a large thump.

"Hiccup! What a pleasant surprise to see you here" Answered rather cheerfully the guard that usually manned this post. "What are you doing here boy? Do we have any mail?"

"Hey, Bucket" responded the freckled teen, with a rather warm voice. Hiccup was always glad to see the guard. He was not the smartest in all of Berk, yet seemed that he was always glad to see him. While the rest of the Vikings would look down at the teen, because of how physically different he was from the rest of the town, Bucket did not seem to have a problem with it in the slightness. Sometimes Hiccup would think that it was because Bucket was not smart enough to realize why the other people in Berk didn't like the boy.

"My father wanted to give you this letter, there was a dragon raid yesterday night at Berk" continued the boy clearly and slowly so the guard would understand what happened.

"Oh…oh, no" the guard frowned clearly confused at the fact, "a raid yesterday! How did we not see any dragons crossing the sea?" His confusion then transformed into worry and shouted while placing his arms on the smaller boy and shaking him rather strongly, "Are you alright? How is everyone doing, is there anyone hurt? Oh... this is not good…"

"Relax Bucket is fine, we took care of it, no one got hurt." _Well except the dragons_ he thought silently.

"Well let me get Mulch to read the letter. You can have some soup while you wait." Bucket could not read or right, but the other guard, Mulch, could. Bucket motion to the soup on the table, clearly wanting Hiccup to take some, before grabbing the envelope in the boy's hand and running upstairs.

* * *

><p>Hiccup was starting to get bored of waiting and looking at the sea. He had been sitting at the edge of the cliff waiting for Mulch to finish responding to his father's letter for almost an hour now. Finally when he was staring to seriously consider if it would be wise to just jump off the cliff out of boredom, Mulch opened the door of the tower and headed towards Hiccup.<p>

"You shouldn't be so close to the cliff, you might fall off" Lectured Mulch as he handed an envelope to Hiccup. "Here you go Hiccup, give this to your father. I don't get how the dragons got pass us, but anyways, we don't need to worry about that for a while."

Heading towards his horse, Hiccup answered "Well, thanks Mulch, I am glad that I could be of assistance" doing a small mocking bow. "I'l be on my way now"

With that Hiccup set off towards Berk.

* * *

><p>"There it is again" said Hiccup while looking at the sky. It had happened again, he had seen a flash of darkness sore through the sky, but this time it landed closer to Hiccup than the last time. Looking at the sun, the teen, calculated that he at least had four more hours of sunlight left, so he decided to derive from the trail and explore the shadow.<p>

As he moved through the forest he felt a strange feeling running through his chest. It was a mixture of anticipation and fear. It was pulling the boy forward with a tremendous force. Hiccup dismissed the strange feeling as just curiosity, and kept advancing, getting closer to where he thought he saw the shadow land.

When he was getting closer, Hiccup dismounted from his horse and tied the rains to a nearby tree. Suddenly he heard a loud roar that it was the unmistakable noise of a dragon. A normal Viking would have fled or grabbed a shield, but Hiccup did neither of the two as he kept approaching the noise, the strange pull he felt from the chest kept moving the boy forwards without thinking of the dangers.

Moving through bushes and trees, he finally found a clearing, the landscape tuned into a steep valley. The boy moved silently near the edge of the cliff, and hid behind a tall bush that was right on the edge.

Poking his head on top of the dense bush, he looked to see if he saw the dragon he heard before. The valley was well hidden by a wall of trees and bushes that covered the top of the walls, making it almost impossible to see what was inside if one wasn't right next to it.

The floor of the depression was covered with thin green grass that moved with the small breeze that ran through. In the center was a big pond, with water reflecting the mixture of blue and brown of the setting sky. Next to the pond, on top of the light grass was the shadow that Hiccup has seen before flying in the sky. It was the most beautiful dragon that Hiccup had ever seen.

The dragon had scales of the color of night covering his entire body. His wings were folded behind his back, color matching the rest of his body; his head was lying on top of his folded paws, with his eyes closed, clearly resting from a long and tiresome flight.

He was not really big or frightening as other dragons that Hiccup had seen before attacking the island. He was about the as tall as Hiccup was, and maybe twice as long. His slow and rhythmic breathing moved his entire body up and down slightly, showing the powerful muscles that carried such a majestic creature to the sky.

Normally Hiccup would have been terrified of seeing a dragon without any protection of any kind, but this time he felt no fear, no worry, and no sense of fleeing. He had the strange feeling of security around the creature. _How could this peaceful-looking creature hurt me?_ He thought as he looked at the sleeping dragon.

His curiosity got the better of him as he started to lean forward to get a better view of the animal. However as he leaned forward he lost balance and started falling down the valley right in the direction of the sleeping dragon.

The black creature suddenly looked up to see what the noise that had interrupted his rest was. He saw a little human falling down to _his_ valley. Normally he would attack any human on sight, yet something stopped him from launching against the boy. Instead he just stood up and hissed to the Hiccup, to make sure his presence was known.

As Hiccup landed in the soft grass, he got up and stood up, brushing the dirt out of his clothes. It was then when the boy realized in the position he was. He, the weakest of all the Vikings, was alone, unarmed except a small knife, next to a powerful creature that could kill him with little effort. _What was I thinking? I'm going to be his next snack!_

When their eyes met the first thought that crossed Hiccup's mind was _I have seen that color before. _That shade of green, it was too characteristic to forget, however the boy didn't remember where he had seen the shadow with those bright green eyes. The mixture of darkness surrounding the emerald green eyes left Hiccup with a strange feeling of Deja-vu, yet he could not place where he had seen it.

They both stared at each other for a good solid two minutes, before any of the two moved. Following his instinct Hiccup grabbed the dagger he had in his belt, making the dragon stand tense and hiss louder at the boy, ready to attack. Thinking it over twice, the boy decided to though the dagger into the pond in the middle of the valley that surrounded them. _Now I am definitively crazy! What kind of Viking throws their only weapon away?_

As soon as the dragon sank into the water, the dragon relaxed completely and sat down looking at Hiccup with a curious gaze instead of a threatening one, opening his toothless mouth to from a dragon kind of smile, weirdly reminding Hiccup of a cat. "You have no teeth…" whispered the brown haired youth.

The feeling that had pulled him towards the noise rose again through Hiccup's chest and gut, making the boy ignore all fear and common sense, forgetting all the rules he was taught, and he saw himself walk towards the dragon. As he got closer to the dark beast, he found himself raising his right arm, holding his open palm in the air close to the dragon's nose. Shocking Hiccup, making him jump a little, the dragon followed suit and pressed his nose against Hiccups palm lightly.

Just as the hand came in contact with the dragon's nose, Hiccup felt an electric shock run through his entire body, when suddenly his vision turning black.

* * *

><p>Cold, a gush of icy wind covered him as he rose. He saw, he heard, he touched and felt. Yet it was not him, both incredibly familiar and foreign. He could feel the memories as if it was his, but he knew he was just a guest to the dragon's mind.<p>

He saw every detail, but blurred by time: Hatching out of fire and ice, the cold breath of a god, the first hunt, the first flight, the icy wall, and all of the memories of the host. He felt fear, anger, expectation, hunger, plenty, sadness and happiness.

A lifetime had passed, and at the same time just merely a second at all. And then his vision returned, the sudden afternoon light blinding the boy slightly, accompanied by the sound of thunder echoing through the sky. He was still resting his open palm on the dragons head.

For the first time in his life Hiccup didn't feel alone, he had seen and felt the life of another as it was his, and from the looks of it, the dragon had seen all of Hiccups life too. There was an unnameable connection between the two, they had only known each other for less than five minutes, but yet they could trust each other completely, as if something had blinded the two souls together.

A moment of sudden clarity struck Hiccup as he looked into his friend's eyes, he now understood, an through a soft and barely hearable whisper he said,

""_Toothless… so that's your name then…_"

* * *

><p><em>Clack, clack. <em>

The noise of wood clashing against wood filled the patio of the Overland Villa. Jack, or 'Frost' like his fellow legionaries called him, had just returned from a long campaign. Gods was he glad that he was home once again; he was tired of the constant marching, and the sleeping deprivation that was involved in the campaigns. And don't get him started with the hygiene, he really missed a day in the sauna, and it was indeed the first thing he had done when he returned to Burgess.

He had just arrived from the thermal bath of the city and had changed from his legionary uniform into civilian clothes, feeling the soft with silk refreshing to his skin. Jack was now taking time to play around with his sister Julia; she was trying to show off new moves she had learned, although with little success, they were technically 'training', with wooden swords.

Jack had the obvious advantage from being the older brother, serving in the legion also helped. The boy was really just teasing his little sister, poking and laughing at her clear frustration, she couldn't even land a single hit.

"It's not fair!" whined Julia pouting and throwing her sword to the ground as a sign of frustration. "I can't even touch you…"

Jack only responded with a chuckle as he ruffled her sister's hair. "Well what did you expect, for me to just let you win unfairly, or did you really think you could beat the grandiose Jack Overland Frost" teased the older brother with a smile of content showing on his face.

"Did you know that I can beat all the boys my age in a duel?" responded Julia while crossing her arms, trying to regain some honor through words.

"Well of course you can squirt, you are an Overland, I would be disappointed if you didn't" added with a chuckle. He then picked up the wooden sword from the ground and handed it to the white haired girl. Lifting her chin, so that their eyes meet, Jack said "Hey, grab the sword and I will show you some moves so you can not only beat the boys your age, but also older. Maybe in a couple of years you could even beat me." He winked during the last remark.

With that Julia grinned and took the sword rather abruptly "Bring it on brother, let's see what you can teach me"

Before they could proceed, someone in the back of the patio cleared their throat. From the bench overlooking them, an elderly woman stood up and glared at the older boy, as if saying _'I do not approve of this'._

"Come on Gothi, it's not that bad! An Overland needs to learn how to fight." Jack tried to convince the slave look over Julia's education.

Gothi had been with the family for as long as Jack or Julia could remember, she had taken care of their parents when they were kids, and now she was taking care of the little Julia. Even if she was legally a slave, she seemed to be the one that took charge of the villa, and even North obeyed her.

"You know that the boy is right Gothi-"Chuckled a loud and deep voice from the background, preceded by a large white haired man with an equally white beard coming out to the patio. Gothi turned to the patriarch of the Overland villa with a serious glare. North clearly put back, was not about to argue against Gothi's will. Turning towards Jack he said, trying to avoid Gothi's stare.

"Well anyways… Jack we need to get to the forum immediately, there is an announcement we need to attend."

"Okay dad" With that Jack handed his sword to his little sister. "See you later squirt. See if I can teach you later those cool moves, so you can be a true Overland!" Receiving a glare from Gothi, Jack smiled and winked at the old women, clearly amused at her irritation, and followed his father out of the Overland Villa, and into the streets of Burgess.

* * *

><p>As they were walking towards the center of Burgess North decided to share some news with his son. "So the feast of summer is coming in three weeks, are you exited?"<p>

Jack looked up from the street and looked at his father with a confused look. "Yea I guess… why do you ask?"

Looking like a little kid that could not keep a secret North responded "Well there is going to be something different this time…"

"What do you mean something different" Now Jack was curious at why his father was acting so strangely.

"Well… to celebrate the successful campaign of the legions, the city council and I have decided to invite all the patriarch families of our province and make a huge banquet, with dozen types of entertainments, from theater plays, to races in the circus, music playing in the streets, and huge celebrations across the entire city of Burgess." North seems incredibly happy with the idea of the enormous celebration for the feast of summer.

"How is the province going to pay for it? I doubt that the emperor is going to give you the money."

"Well you see you guys brought a large amount of loot, so there is a large surplus. The city council and I have decided that it would be a good idea to calm the people in Tiberia. Let's just say that the people are a bit restless with Pitch's nightmares flying around so often."

North was not a fan of the emperors little minions. They called themselves the Nightmares Riders, and were above the law, answering only to the emperor Pitch himself. It was how he maintained his rule of terror with no one confronting him about it, even the Senate itself was too scared to go against the emperor's tyranny.

"I would be carful father, even if you are the guardian of Tiberia-"whispered Jack "-you never know who is listening, and you are not above the Nightmares."

"Yea, yea, I know, I know…" Calmly answered north "I swear if Pitch does not tone it down, the plebe will want his head."

"Anyhow…" tying to shift the conversation to safer topics "I think it's a pretty smart and neat idea. So is everyone coming?"

"Yes, letters have been sent to all the cities of Tiberia, even the Vikings have been invited" Exclaimed North, with newfound joy in his voice.

"Wait, wait what? Even the Vikings!" the white haired boy was surprised that the Vikings would leave their little island; they were always too busy fighting wild dragons. Jack was now kind of excited; he had always wanted to meet those dragon slayers since he was a little kid. They were stuff of legend those Vikings, living in the harshest condition on the known world, in the one island that all dragons had to stop for rest, before reaching mainland.

Jack had grown up with legends of these strong men and women that would give their lives protecting the people of the empire against the demonic creatures. They were always too busy to socialize much with the rest of the world, always fighting or getting ready to fight another horde of dragons. The Vikings were extremely popular in the northern province of Tiberia. They were the Heros of the north, protecting the rest of the world.

Jack was now euphoric at the chance to meet one of these famous warriors and could not contain his excitement. "I can't believe it! Are you for real?"

North's answer was a simple nod as he looked amused at his son's reaction to the news.

"Wait a second, aren't they too busy fighting dragons? If they are here who would defend the empire?" Jack's grin transformed into a worried frown.

"Dragon season will be over by the time of the feast, and by the way, it's not like the entire Viking tribe will come down to the banquet, so don't you worry about it. Now let's get to the forum, we don't want to be late."

* * *

><p>Hiccup had left the valley and was trying to get home as quickly as possible, the sun was about to set. However it was proving to be difficult with a black dragon refusing to let him go home. He had spent a good three hours playing with and getting to know his new friend, but he really needed to get to Berk.<p>

Chuckling he turned to Toothless "Bud, you can't follow me home like this. What do you think the people in Berk will do when they see you?"

Instead of listening to the freckled teen, Toothless decided that it would be a good idea to poke his head underneath Hiccups arm, with that the boy dropped to his knees and started scratching the neck of the dragon.

"No but seriously, bud, you need to wait in the valley, no one will find you there." Toothless simply ignored his friend and lifted his neck so Hiccup would have a better access to it.

Hiccup although, knew perfectly well that it would not be possible for Toothless to follow him. So he stopped scratching the dragon and looked deep into his emerald eyes.

"Toothless, you listen to me" His voice was now commanding and with a trace of worry. "You are going to go to the valley and hide. I will be back for you tomorrow, so… don't you worry… okay?" Toothless stood still and looked at his friend bewildered. He then grunted while turning around and took off towards the valley, at a speed never seen before.

Feeling successful and surprise at his new found authority, the boy dusted off his clothes and mounted the horse before pulling the rains and speeding towards Berk, hoping that his father would not be too mad for his absence.

* * *

><p>After leaving the horse in the stables, Hiccup, ran up the streets of Berk to Gobber's shop. On his way there he was thinking of a million different excuses to explain why it had taken him so long for him to send a message.<p>

As he was hoping, Hiccup found Gobber and his father leaning against a surface that was usually occupied by different blueprints for new dragon killing weapons. Stoick was reading what looked like a letter, before he looked up and saw his son standing there awkwardly.

"Hiccup!" he shouted with his roaring voice, "where in the name of the moon where you?" Stoick stoop up and glared at his son for his tardiness. "Well that does not matter anyways, guess what are we doing for the feast of summer?"

Hiccup was rather taken aback by his father's sudden change in topic, but hell he was not one to complain about it. However he was surprised by the second question as well. What did his father mean by what where we doing for the feast? What they always did, celebrate the end of dragon season in Berk.

"Mmmm… I don't know dad, maybe do what we do every year, and have a banquet with every Viking in the island. Celebrate how strong we are with more fights," He posed with his slim arms flexed for dramatic effect ", as if we didn't have enough violence as it is."

"Hiccup we have been invited to the capital to celebrate the feast of summer." Stoick simply ignored his son's sarcastic remark.

"Wait what? You mean the city of Oneira? But that is months away from here!"

"No, no, I mean Burgess, the capital of Tiberia"

Actually, it did not surprise Hiccup that his father had meant Burgess as the capital city. They were technically part of the empire, in the province of Tiberia, however the Vikings held no loyalty to the emperor, nor did they fear his rule. They had heard stories from the merchants that ventured up north, that the emperor Pitch had a small army of dragon riders that spread terror and 'order' through the empire.

It could be because they were too busy, or because Vikings did not fear dragons, or for multiple political reasons but the Nightmare Riders had never been spotted near the island of fire. Berk had only loyalty to the guardian of Tiberia, Nicholas Overland North, since he provided help when Berk requested it.

"Ahhh, that makes much more sense. But why this year, I don't understand" Hiccup asked confused at the invitation that Stoick was holding.

"Well you see-"Intervened Gobber"- the legions of Burgess have returned from a successful campaign against the barbaric tribes to the east of the river Styx." Gobber stopped there as if that was explanation enough.

Still looking confused, Stoick decided to explain the rest to his son, "To celebrate the campaign, the city council of Burgess and our most beloved guardian of Tiberia-"Stoick always referred to the Nicholas Overland North with the uttermost respect and admiration. "- has decided to organize a huge event in _our_ capital city, three weeks from now."

Gobber taking the chance to input his own words of wisdom he added, "So yea Hiccup, brush up on your manners because you, your father, and the rest of the town officials are going south in three weeks." With a snort he said "We don't want to give a bad impression to the _cultured_ elite of Tiberia."

"Okay… that sounds interesting dad... Do you need something else though?"

"No that will be all… There is some soup at home if you are hungry." Stoick stood there awkwardly until Hiccup started walking away slowly "make sure to tell Astrid about it, she will be coming too you know…"Muttered Stoick, turning around and continuing his conversation with Gobber.

* * *

><p>The forum was situated right in the middle of the city of Burgess, in the intersection of the two most important roads, the principal road and the lateral street. The principal road started at the docks in the northern part of the city, and stretched straightly south until the southern gate, where it met the imperial road. The lateral street was perpendicular to the principal road, stretching from the western gate to the eastern gate. It was at the intersection of these two roads, that the center of life in Burgess took place.<p>

It was where everything happened, trade agreements between merchants, trials from the pettiest of thief's to the traitors to the empire, it is where the citizens of Burgess came to discuss their views, it is was the heart of Tiberia.

At the center of the forum there is a rectangular plaza, made up of marble slabs. At the northern end of the plaza there were a set of stairs that lead to the city council of Burgess. From the entrance of the city council building, one could see the entire forum plaza and could be heard perfectly from any side of the forum. At the center of the plaza there is an obsidian stature of the 'beloved'emperor Pitch Black. The emperor was standing straight and strong on top of his black scaled dragon, with his sword raised, as if ready to strike. He looks rather imposing, but also rather noble. But anyone with two eyes and a set of ears knew that the statue was simply propaganda. However no one dared to speak against the emperor publicly, it could have grave consequences.

The forum plaza was surrounded by tall and brown buildings that ranged from custom house, courts, and temples to the gods. Each building was covered by several round white pillars that surrounded the structure, these pillars also held up the part of the roof that was not sustained by the walls themselves.

As Jack entered the forum from the southern gate, he noticed how there was a lot more people than he remembered the last time he was there. The plaza was packet with thousands of people going about their business, merchants waiting to legally close a deal, people waiting for trial for a crime or an accusation, lawyers offering their services to the people near the tribunals, normal citizens who wanted to know the news of the empire. However in the crowds, Jack found people like him, discharged legionnaires that had returned home from the campaign; some trying to claim their salary and some just meeting up with old friends.

North led Jack through the crowded plaza in the direction of the city council building. As they got close he found that there was a line of legionnaires that were blocking the entrance to the city hall. The white haired patrician knew that that only happened when there was going to be a speech of some kind by the city officials. North looked back to make sure that his son was following him, waving his hand as if trying to say _'Move faster Jack!'_.

Jack found his father's behavior rather funny at times like that. He still treated Jack as if he was the fourteen year old boy that got lost when left unsupervised. He was not only legally overage, twenty years old, but also had served in the legion for an entire 3 years.

North walked up to the legionnaires, and motioned for them to let them step through. The soldiers as commanded opened an aperture in their wall of red shields and let the guardian and his son though. They both climbed the white marble stairs rather quickly and entered the city council building through the circular arc that comprised the entrance.

Once inside Jack noticed how it was also crowded inside. Different politicians were talking to each other about affairs of the empire, most likely either about the successful campaign or the upcoming feast. North walked towards his brother, the general of the legions of Tiberia, Phil Overland. Phil was a large and bulky man; he had the characteristic white hair of the Overland family, and an iconic long mustache equally white, hiding part of his face. He was not the greatest of talkers, but in the battle field he was rather cunning and managed to maintain his armies in order at all moments. It was because of his ease with the legions that he was so successful in the battlefield, earning him great honor and fame throughout the entire empire.

"I am glad to see you brother" Exclaimed North with a rather abrupt hug. "It feels like it has been so long since we last saw each other, how are you been doing?"

"All well and good, as you might already know we managed to strike a peace treaty with the barbarian tribes. Well technically more between the lines of, don't attack us gain or we will be back."

With that, both brothers started to laugh until they were interrupted by the approaching tribune of coin, Teutates Moneta.

"Oh, it's such a pleasure to see you again old friend! You do us a great honor showing yourself" Moneta smiled politely at Phil, and shook his hand firmly. "I hear great things of you, if you keep this up, you might have the chance of a political position in the imperial Senate itself. They could use someone as esteemed as you"

Teutates Moneta was a slim middle aged man. He usually wore expensive robes as a show of success in as a merchant. His skin was pale from the small amounts of sunlight that he received, and his hands showed that it had been a long while since that last time he had done any labor. He was small in posture compared to Phil and North, but it did not stop him from pretending to be part of the noble elite of the empire.

Jack always felt mixed emotions when talking to Moneta, part of him gave into his charm and wanted to trust his smile and his silver tongue, yet there was a little voice in his head that made Jack keep his distance from the man, as if there was something untrustworthy of his posture.

"So Nicholas-" Moneta turned to the guardian "-are you ready to share the news to our beloved people. I have already started selling the loot from the campaign in the market square; the slaves are proving most profitable." He kept his voice soft yet piercing, as if trying to tame a wild beast with his tongue.

"Good, we need the money" answered rather dryly the guardian of Tiberia. "Now go on, I need to talk private matters with my brother." Teutates stepped back and gave a halfhearted bow, and left them to take care of his own business.

"You to Jack, go wait for me over the entrance arc, I need to talk to your uncle"

Startled, Jack gave a nod and turned around heading to where his father had pointed out. Wondering what would be so important that not even Jack could hear the white haired youth leaned on the marble wall near the arc.

Jack was too busy wandering in his own thoughts about what he would do during the feast of summer, if he was going to participate in any of the tournaments, or just look and maybe bet in the coliseum, to realize that Teutates Moneta had walked toward him.

Jack did a small jump when he heard the small man clear his throat next to him. "Soo Frost…" Jack cringed at how the man had said his nickname, "Are you wondering what your uncle and father are talking about so secretively there?" The man was leaning against the wall right next to Jack, and pointed to the scene with a nod of his head.

"No, not really, I trust my father. If he wanted it to keep it private it must be for a reason. Better not question it too much" Jack shrugged his elbows to emphasize that he did had not given it too much thought.

"Oh, look at you, not questioning orders, you are truly the great centurion that you are" It was presented as a complement, but Jack could not help but feel like it was meant like a disguised insult.

"What do you _want_ Moneta" there was a trace of venom in the noble's voice.

"You offend me Jack-" The merchant placed his hand on his chest as if to symbolize that he was pained by Jacks comment. "-I come here as a friend, don't worry. You know we have some young pretty slaves from the battles in the east, maybe you would be interested in somebody to… _satisfy_ your need"

It was not uncustomary for young men the age of Jack of his social class, to buy a young slave to satisfy their intimate needs. However the idea of buying someone just for the purpose of sex, did not appeal Jack; especially if he himself had participated in the capture of the poor boys and girls being sold as animals.

Jack secretively disliked the idea of slavery, but he did not dare to voice his opinion on the matter, he would be treated as a radical and a social outcast. He was already frowned upon for the little fact that he had not bought any slaves for his personal desires.

"Well you know where to find me if you change your mind, I will even offer a special discount for being such good _friends_" with that, Moneta winked to Jack, and left him, probably looking for his next costumer.

Suddenly the sound of loud trumped was heard, and the high members of the city council headed towards the entrance of the city hall, ready to share the news to the people in the forum. Seeing his father walk in front, Jack jumped and tailed his father like he had done so many times before.

* * *

><p>"CITIZENS OF BURGESS" Nicholas Overland North made one of his famous cries to bring the forum to silence. It was amazing how his powerful deep voice pierced through the forum and was heard from every corner of the plaza, regardless of the amount of people. Curious on what was all the commotion about, the people in the forum stopped their conversations, and faced the city council building to listen to their guardian speak.<p>

North was standing on top of the steps to the city hall facing the forum plaza. Phil was at his right side and Jack at his left. Behind them, where the rest of the politicians that took care of running the city of Burgess and the province of Tiberia, among them there was the tribune of coin and other important figures.

"As you all know, the feast of summer will be upon us in three weeks' time-" Although he needed to shout less now that he had everyone's attention, the guardian's voice was still tremendously piercing, forcing all present to listen. "-But this time we have an important event to celebrate. This year we will celebrate the success of our legions in the battle field, brining honor to their households and the entire empire." There was a loud cheer from the veterans that were present in the audience.

"Yes, yes, we all own you a big deal, settle down, let me continue with the good news" That was followed by a small laugh of the people in the forum. It never stopped surprising what a great orator his father was, it managed to make everyone that was listening hear what he heard, see what he saw, and feel what he felt. It was because of that, that he managed to win and maintain the position of guardian of Tiberia.

"Now, to celebrate such a success" He continued "we will do something different during the feast of summer" Now the forum was captivated by what North was saying. "This year the feast of summer will be open to all the citizens of Tiberia that want to come. There will be an enormous celebration in the honor of the god of war. There will be music, food, wine, gladiator fights, races in the circus, and countless other events. The Vikings themselves will celebrate the end of dragon season by our side"

With that the entire forum erupted into commotion, it wasn't that they were cheering or shouting loudly. It was more the fact that everyone seemed to talk to their neighbor at the same time. However the crowd was silenced when there was a roar heard in the sky.

Jack looked up at the sky and saw a black figure approach from the south, making the unmistakable roar of a Nightmare Rider. Jack looked at his father worried, wondering why a Nightmare would come here to Burgess. North, however, was looking straight to the approaching rider, his posture had changed drastically. He was now tense and with a calculating stare, clearly worried of the presence of a rider, as opposed to the excited man that was preaching to his people.

The people in the forum started to disband, clearly trying to get to safety before the Nightmare Rider landed and states his purpose. Jack glanced at his uncle and saw a defensive posture he had clearly seen in battle before, waiting for an imminent danger with his head tall, shoulders up, and hand resting on his sword that was resting in is belt.

Looking around some more, Jack spotted Teutates Moneta among the crowd of politicians, clearly uncomfortable with the presence of the rider, contrary to the guardian and general, the merchant was trying to walk backwards slowly, clearly getting away from the scene that was about to occur.

When Jack looked back up he saw that the rider was much closer than before. The dragon had dark scales covering the entire body with equally black wings. It was the height of two man, and twenty meters long, with a wingspan of double the length of the dragon. The rider was seated were the neck met the wings, with rains hanging from his hands connected to the mouth of the dragon.

As the dragon approached the forum he expanded his wings and they filled with air, slowing down his descent. When he got close to the ground, the dragon bated his wings twice to stop his fall and landed on his back paws before placing his front paws down. Once on the ground, the dragon folded his wings neatly behind his back.

On top of the dragon, where the neck met the wings, sat the rider of the creature on his saddle. The rider was covered with a black tunic that matched the color of his dragon; his face was hidden by the hood of his tunic. Once his dragon had folded his wings, the riders jumped of his back into the marble floor of the forum. As he approached the city magistrates, the rider pulled off his hoodie, to reveal an unkind and pallid face.

His eyes were dark and cold, his skin so white that veins could be seen. Underneath his eyes he revealed large ponds of darkness. He was tall with a round head, and short grey hair. His right hand was resting on the hilt of a log sword strapped in a black belt, revealing an equally pale hand, with a skull ring wrapped around the middle finger.

His swords danced back and forth as the man walked towards the line of startled legionnaires. There was a frightening silence that surrounded the rider as he walked up the stairs. With a disturbing grin he looked over all the people that were standing in front of him, analyzing every single person present.

Finally the guardian of Tiberia decided to break the silence and spoke, "What business do you have here in Burgess. We have done nothing wrong to anger or offend the emperor."

"Oh, but you misunderstand me." The way the rider pronounced the sentence reminded Jack instantly of a snake trying to lure their pray into a trap. "I am not here to accuse Burgess of treason," After a slight pause, and another analyzing glace to the people present, he added "but that will not stop me from doing so if I see it fit." North's face turned hard and cold at the clear threat the rider had just made.

"Then state your name and reason for your appearance"

"No need to get so aggressive guardian, I do not come here to harm." Still grinning like a mad man he added with fake worry. "My name is of no importance for now. The imperial senate heard of the news of your coming feast. Worried for the security of your people, the emperor sent me to overlook and keep the city safe from any… _indiscretions_ that could harm Burgess or the empire."

Jack had lived enough years submerged in the politics of the empire to see that this was no act of kindness in the part of the imperial senate or Pitch. He knew that the real reason for the Nightmare Dragon to be here was clearly a power play on the part of Pitch. However Jack did not understand what the emperor would want to do exactly. His theory was that the rider was sent to remind Tiberian magistrates and generals of who was still in charge.

By now the number of people in the forum had decreased by half, people had left or where inside the buildings, clearly keeping their distance from the rider.

And then as North was about to say something back to the Nightmare Rider, a sudden roar could be heard from the sky followed by a large flash of light. In a cloudy day Jack would dismiss the noise as just simple, but the odd thing was that the skies were clear and blue.

Looking back down to the rider, Jack found a mixture of expressions that he would never have thought to see in a Nightmare Rider. At first the pale man looked worried, then scared and suddenly angry. He then stood straight and stared with a black face directly at North "Well most esteemed magistrates, I now will take my leave to the dragon keep. I will clearly see you again." He bowed, as if to show respect, but from the mocking tone of his words it was clearly ridicule. As he started walking back to his dragon the rider quickly turned around and shouted "I expect my chambers to be in impeccable conditions by the way..."

With that the rider jumped back up to his dragon and took off to the dragon keep of Burgess, situated next to the southern gate, overlooking both the city and the imperial road.

Just as he took off, North directed his gaze to one of the city council slaves and said rather harshly. "Make sure that piece off…" Phil from behind North cleared his through loudly to stop his brother from saying anything before it was too late to take back. "_Ahem_… I mean… make sure that the rider gets everything he wants, we do not want him to get angry." With that the slave took off running towards the dragon keep.

Jack looked at his father with worry, expecting some sort of explanation or insight on what just happened. However, North was clearly too irritated to provide any response except, "Jack, go back to the villa. Look over your sister tonight. You are not to leave the villa tonight. Understood?" Jack just responded with a simple and discreet nod.

With no more explanation North went back into the city council building followed by the rest of the magistrates. Standing there awkwardly Jack decided to listen to his father advice and go back home.

During his walk back to the Overland Villa, Jack started thinking of the good news. He was going to finally meet the Vikings, he couldn't help but get excited at the prospect. He just hoped that the Nightmare Rider would not ruin the celebrations.


End file.
